“It didn’t seem to me that the premier was quite as aware of our international obligations to the UN convention on refugees as he might have been,” said Trudeau. “So, I spent a little time explaining how the asylum seeker system works,” said a Prime Minister who was very proud of himself.

Did Trudeau “explain” to Ford how migrants take advantage of Canada’s generosity by illegally hopping the border, rather than waiting in UN refugee camps like the millions of less fortunate refugees who are truly in need of protection?

Did he explain how human smuggling rings send migrants to cross illegally to circumvent the Safe Third Country agreement — an international treaty that prevents asylum seekers from shopping around to choose a more lenient country to make their claim?

Did Trudeau explain how his own minister of transportation once admitted that 90% of asylum applicants are bogus and will eventually be deported, at the expense of Canadian taxpayers? The minister later clarified he was referring to Haitian migrants, but historical data shows that the majority of asylum seekers applying in Canada are eventually rejected and deported.

Did Trudeau explain to Ford that emails made public through an access to information request showed that Trudeau’s own virtue-signaling on social media caused chaos in government offices and a surge of asylum applications?

And did Trudeau explain to Ontario’s Premier that refugee policy and border enforcement are both 100% the responsibility of the federal government?

I doubt it. Trudeau has been absolutely clueless when it comes to Canada’s refugee policy, since the day he naively pledged to welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees on a rushed timeline with no regard for national security or refugee integration programs.

While it’s true that Canada’s hands are mostly tied when it comes to how we process refugee applications, thanks to UN treaties that past governments have signed, there’s plenty Trudeau could do to quell the surge in illegal border crossings.

For instance, we know that many migrants come to Canada specifically for our generous healthcare and welfare programs. While Yazidi women are suffering as medieval sex slaves to ISIS thugs in the Middle East, Trudeau is focused on guaranteeing free apartments and dental care to asylum seekers from relatively safe and prosperous countries like Nigeria.

Once an asylum claim is made, migrants are free to travel and live wherever they please. Given the flood of claims — 72,000 since Trudeau sent out his infamous Tweet in January 2017 — wait lists for a refugee hearing is now almost two years.

Migrants know that even if their claims are found to be bogus, they still get a few years in Canada — enough time to take advantage of free healthcare, education and welfare payments to make it all worthwhile.

If Trudeau wanted to stop this madness, he could — while still observing our UN treaty obligations.

Trudeau could limit the taxpayer benefits to asylum seekers, speed up the processing of applications, mandate a hearing within 15 or 30 days, and, like Australia, hold all asylum seekers in a holding centre until their hearing date.

Word would travel fast that Canada is putting an end to the gravy train, and human smugglers would find another country to take advantage of.